Wireless communication systems are well known and in widespread use. Cellular communication networks typically include a plurality of base stations geographically located to serve corresponding regions or cells. Mobile stations such as cell phones, personal digital assistants and laptop computers communicate using radio frequency signals through the base stations to a cellular network, which facilitates communications with other devices.
Other wireless communication technologies are available, such as IEEE 802.11 wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) communications. Wi-Fi communications typically have higher bandwidth capability than connectivity available through cellular networks. However, Wi-Fi communication capability is generally a near-range communication technology. Typical effective communication ranges are from about fifty to several hundred meters. One or more Wi-Fi access points are typically used to service a Wi-Fi communications network.
Some mobile stations have the capability of communicating using a cellular network, Wi-Fi communications or both. Some known mobile stations have a manager element that switches between Wi-Fi and cellular-based (e.g., Wide-area Local Network IP connectivity) communications based on the availability of each network and other criteria such as application needs, etc. With such devices, the connection element, often embodied in software and driven by an application processor, relies upon a Wi-Fi transceiver of the mobile station to provide an indication whether a Wi-Fi communication network is currently available. Leaving a Wi-Fi transceiver switched on for this purpose undesirably utilizes battery power because the Wi-Fi transceiver must be switched on even while it is not being used. Therefore, many users appear to disable Wi-Fi due to mitigate undesirable battery drain. However, leaving it off may lead to connectivity issues as well as sub-optimal power usage as the cellular transceiver may have to use more power for high-throughput communication with a base station. And, constant user interaction with a connection element to enable/disable the Wi-Fi transceiver does not provide for a seamless and streamlined user experience.